What is in Kelvin's Head?

Slow Eucharist – Teaching Mass – Lord’s Supper with FAQ

23/08/2014
I’m doing something a bit different on Monday. It happens to be the Feast of St Bartholomew and normally we would have a celebratory Eucharist in the morning instead of morning prayer. Now, I’m the master of having all the works in less than half an hour. Clouds of smoke, a simple sung plainsong setting a wee homily and some prayers and off we go into the world refreshed by being inspired by the saint of the day. It all has to be sharp and to the point but it is fun none the less.

However on Monday I’ve shifted the Eucharist to the evening and instead of it being over before you can blink, I’ve advertised it as a slow eucharist.

The idea is that we’ll take time over it and I welcome questions throughout the service. I’ll probably have some questions to think about too.

I’ve done a few services like this in my time.

When I’ve done this before, it has been enjoyed by a range of people. It is particularly suitable for anyone who comes to the Eucharist and has been wondering about how the service hangs together. What do the individual bit mean? Why do we do it this way? I’ve also known parents who believe (in the face of the church telling them otherwise) that children should “understand” communion before receiving it enjoy bringing their kids. (My experience is that kids do understand it and adults have the questions, but that’s OK). It is particularly suitable for anyone of any age who wants to begin receiving communion but who hasn’t received so far because they don’t quite get it or have wondered whether or not they should.

The kinds of questions that have come up in the past have included…
- Why do you wear that colour on that day and how do you know?
- Why do we have wafers when other people have bread?
- Why do you do that with your hands?
- Why do we sometimes have three people at the altar – what are they all doing there?
- How do you know who is who by what they are wearing?
- What really happens to the bread and wine?
- What do all Anglicans believe about this
- What are the secret prayers that the priest says?
- What do you mean secret prayers?!!!
- Why do people have different names for the service – Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, Mass, which is it?
- Can you receive communion if you’ve arrived at the last minute?
- If Jesus only gave communion to men then why do we give it to women too?
- Did Jesus know he was starting something that would go on and on through the centuries?
- What’s that called?
- Who is allowed to receive communion? Is there anyone you would refuse communion to?
- Can you be excommunicated from the Scottish Episcopal Church?
- Why did I have to be confirmed to receive communion and now people don’t?
- Why? Just why?
- Why do we do this, when we used to do that?
I’ll give plenty of time for questions and answers. Don’t presume I have all the answers. My hunch is that the best answers will come from the community that gathers.

It will be fun. It will be informal. It will be holy.

No question too silly.

All welcome on Monday at 6.30 pm. Depending on numbers, we may start with a sacristy safari to gether all the bits and pieces together. If there are too many of us, we’ll reschedule that bit for another day. We should be all out of the building by 8.30 pm so slow but not interminable. (Length depends on the number of questions).

Comments and questions welcome on here too.

16 responses to “St Andrew's Day 2008”

Christina

04/12/2007

On a related theme, was there not a year recently when we had to move the assumption because it fell on Ash Wednesday? I don’t remember Christmas being delayed, but of course, can’t comment on the delay of the second coming.

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Christina

04/12/2007

And I know I meant “annunciation” before you point it out to me.

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Rob Murray Brown

26/08/2008

Is there a reason that the two celebrations cant be held on the same day? Do you really think that Christ would object to sharing a day with one of his disciples. I think not!

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kelvin

26/08/2008

I think that it is more about giving the church the full opportunity to concentrate on both.

The themes that we remember at Christ the King (ie how Jesus undermines all our expectations of monarchy and power) don’t fit terribly well with theme we think about on St Andrew’s Day (thinking about missions and spreading faith in the world and also praying for Scotland). Advent 1 is something else altogether and also does not make a good fit.

I quite like the way the calendar works as it is a good reminder to us that being God’s people is something that happens daily, not weekly.

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Rob Murray Brown

13/10/2008

Im feel sure that your congregation would manage to digest more than one message on any particular day. The fact is that St Andrews Day is on the 30 November each year – every 7 or so years this will fall on a Sunday. I cant remember it ever being moved before and see no reason to start in 2009.

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Kelvin

13/10/2008

St Andrews Day is on 1 December this year in the Scottish Episcopal Calendar as it is every year when 30 November falls on a Sunday.

It is the way the Ecclesiastical calendar works.

To quote fully from the published Calendar:

Each Holy and Saint’s Day listed in the Calendar has been assigned a number which indicates its category.
It is intended that feasts in categories 1 – 4 (below) should be kept by the whole Church. Days in categories 5 and
6 may be kept according to diocesan or local discretion. Commemorations not included in this Calendar may be
observed with the approval of the Bishop.
When two celebrations fall on the same day, the following table indicates which takes precedence.
1 Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday;
Easter Day (and the weekdays following);
Pentecost;
Ash Wednesday; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Holy Week; Ascension Day;
Christmas Day ; Epiphany;
Sundays of Advent, Lent and Easter.
2 Feasts of The Lord (Naming, Presentation, Annunciation, Transfiguration);
Trinity Sunday; All Saints’ Day;
Dedication and Patronal Festivals;
Eves of Christmas and Pentecost;
First Sunday after Christmas;
First Sunday after Epiphany (the Baptism of the Lord).
3 Sundays after Christmas (except Christmas 1);
Sundays after Epiphany (except Epiphany 1);
Sundays after Pentecost (except Pentecost 1);
Weekdays in Lent.
4 Feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists;
Saint Mary the Virgin, the Visit to Elizabeth;
Joseph, John the Baptist (Birth, Beheading);
Mary Magdalene; Michael and All Angels;
Stephen, the Holy Innocents;
Kentigern, Patrick, Columba, Ninian, Margaret of Scotland.
5 All Souls’ Day; Holy Cross Day;
Conception and Birth of Mary, Mother of the Lord;
Thanksgiving for the Institution of the Holy Communion (Corpus Christi);
Thanksgiving for Harvest.
6 Other commemorations.
Notes:
(i) Epiphany may be kept on the Sunday following 1 January, and the Ascension on the Seventh Sunday of
Easter.
(ii) Feasts in Category 2, falling on a weekday, may be kept on the nearest Sunday, except Sundays in
Categories 1 and 2.
(iii) Feasts in Category 4, falling on a day of higher category (other than a weekday in Lent), should be
transferred (in chronological order) to the next available weekday.
(iv) Where feasts in Category 4 fall on a Sunday (other than a Sunday in Categories 1 and 2), they may, if local
circumstances require, be kept on that day.
(v) The weekdays of Advent and Easter may be given special weighting.
(vi) When days in Category 6 coincide with a day of higher category, they should be omitted that year.
(vii) Thanksgiving for the Institution of Holy Communion is particularly associated with the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday.
(viii) Thanksgiving for the Harvest may take place on any appropriate Sunday.

The full thing can be found within this zip file:
http://www.scotland.anglican.org/media/liturgy/liturgy/calendar_and_lectionary_pdf.zip

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